The present invention relates to a bioremediation system and method for use in cleaning up water containing organic contaminants. More specifically the present invention relates to cleaning up groundwater containing organic contaminants by injecting a gas-containing water into soil and thereby catalyzing and accelerating the rate at which microorganisms in the soil biodegrade such organic contaminants into non-polluting components such as carbon dioxide and water.
It is an object of this invention to provide a bioremediation system and method by providing a low cost, reliable, continuously operating and transportable unit which can be readily taken to treatment sites for cleaning up groundwater or other water sources containing organic contaminants using a gas-enriched and particularly oxygen-enriched water.
The present invention is based on the concept of contacting gas-enriched and particularly oxygen-enriched water with groundwater containing organic contaminants by injecting such into soil to increase the microbial action causing the biodegradation and/or mineralization of such organic contaminants into non-polluting components. The action of such microorganisms is further enhanced by adding nutrients for such microorganisms to the gas-enriched water, principally in the form of soluble nitrogen and phosphorus compounds such as are found in fertilizer compositions.
In one form of the present invention, a low pressure oxygen stream containing at least 90% oxygen is combined with water at higher pressures in a fluid mixing device and then sprayed under pressure into a chamber under conditions that result in extremely small water particles which allows for maximum solution of oxygen in the water and thereafter pumping the oxygenated water into the ground containing soil contaminants. The principal type of organic contaminants remediated are hydrocarbons and halogenated hydrocarbons. In a preferred embodiment the water is combined with nutrients to further enhance the microbial activity before it is sprayed into the chamber.